About Bushcraft and About Survival

Imagine a place, maybe the vast, boreal woods of Canada or the verdant jungles of Costa Rica, maybe even in the United States of the Americas. Imagine a place where wildlife, solitude and raw beauty greet the senses at every turn.

 Now, imagine that you are in the exact same place but that it is after a disaster, plane crash, vehicle breakdown; or that you have just wandered off the trail and become lost. You haven't got a lot of fancy gear or equipment—you probably do not have any “REAL” weapons and it is extremely unlikely that you will have any firearms.

But, also imagine being able to comfortably satisfy your needs in such a place with minimal LIGHTWEIGHT equipment and supplies. You know, like your great grandfather and mother, grandfather and mother, possibly even your father and mother were able to do—and DID.

They did not consider that it took a high skill level. In their daily lives, they did not consider  it a knowledge-based approach to combating nature and they sure didn't find it to be extremely liberating; or deeply enriching. They were not much concerned with immersing themselves in nature more fully. These were the techniques that most young boys and girls learned to use in home economics, and industrial art/shop courses. These were the tools and techniques that they would use each and every day of their lives. These were the necessary TECHNIQUES OF SURVIVAL.
These people were concerned with the matters of business, EVERYDAY LIFE, and being Canadians. 
They were concerned with the building. Building villages, town, cities, bridges, dams, roads and the best country on earth. Many of these people lived on the prairies and some, because of the Klondike Gold Rush and other CANADIAN mineral prospecting, or exploration, lived in arctic regions. Many, perhaps most, did not know BEANS” about “Bushcraft. But they did know about improvising; and they did know about using what they had available (hand tools, nature’s bounty/pantry)—the tools building.

They did not have to embolden themselves to venture into nature with confidence and competence. Theirs was not a search to be comfortable in remote wilderness - it was about, comfortably, surviving. It was about enriching the lives of their children and for future heirs. Some even learned some degree of appreciation and enjoyment for and of our local woods, waterways, mountains etch. 
Who-or- What is: Bushcraft, a Pioneer, Self Reliance, a Survivor.  
Do You Really Want to be Counted Amongst the Survivors?

© Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan. All rights reserved.